betrachtetvsbetrachtetenWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: betrachtet is a verb, betrachteten is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“betrachtet” is a verb and “betrachteten” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#2,138
“betrachtet” frequency rank
#23,445
“betrachteten” frequency rank
25583
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature betrachtet betrachteten
Definition 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs betrachten Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs betrachtet

Where the eye mixes betrachtet and betrachteten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. betrachtet runs 10 letters (CVCCVCCCVC) against betrachteten's 12 (CVCCVCCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

10 ch
betrachtet
12 ch
betrachteten

Why the eye confuses betrachtet with betrachteten

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: betrachtet is [bəˈtʁaxtət] while betrachteten is [bəˈtʁaxtətn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “betrachtet” sits inside “betrachteten”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25583, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

betrachtet is recorded at frequency rank #2,138, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈtʁaxtət]. betrachteten is at rank #23,445, tagged as anadj, pronounced [bəˈtʁaxtətn̩].

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 25583, this pair ranks #1,831,066 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of betrachtet vs betrachteten

Shared letters: abcehrt. Private to "betrachtet": -. Private to "betrachteten": n.

"betrachtet" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCCVC  ·  "betrachteten" · 12 letters · shape CVCCVCCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • betrachtetbbetrachtet · bertachtet · betarchtet · betracchtet · betrachett · betrachhtet · betrachtett · betrachtte
  • betrachtetenbbetrachteten · bertachteten · betarchteten · betracchteten · betrachetten · betrachhteten · betrachteetn · betrachtetenn

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "betrachtet" and "betrachteten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "betrachtet" is a verb and "betrachteten" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "betrachtet" or "betrachteten" show up more?
"betrachtet" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,138 in our German list, against #23,445 for "betrachteten". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "betrachtet" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "betrachteten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,831,066 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "betrachtet" and "betrachteten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "beachteten vs betrachteten". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #1,831,066 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list